It's in the Programming
by PyroP-Dawg
Summary: There's another mech on the Ark that has the same programming as the Twins. Going without a fight for too long causes this programming to malfunction. Sunstreaker notices this mech and decides to do something before it gets out of hand.
1. Chapter 1

AN: This one was another bunny on the TF Bunny comm on LJ. I seriously love that place. Many thanks to norielit for letting me adopt their bunny. The basic idea is Perceptor has the same battle programming as the twins. If he goes without a fight for too long, it causes big problems. But most people think Perceptor is a pacifist.

Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.

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Perceptor was edgy. Sunstreaker watched him from across the room. It paid to watch mechs that acted like that. If Sunstreaker didn't know any better…but, no, it was impossible.

But still, he watched as Perceptor set himself up with an energon cube and sat himself so his back was to the wall. The scientists hands clenched and unclenched around the cube. He was watching people the same way Sunstreaker was.

"Interesting," Sunstreaker muttered to himself.

"What?" Sideswipe asked, breaking off his conversation with Bluestreak.

Sunstreaker shook his head. He wasn't sure, and he wasn't going to jump to conclusions. That was Sideswipe's shtick, not his.

--

Perceptor definitely noticed Sunstreaker suddenly had more excuses to come into the scientists' wing of the Ark. Most people avoided that section like the plague. They'd rather not get caught up in one of Wheeljack's explosions.

"What do you want, Sunstreaker?" Perceptor finally snapped.

"A match," Sunstreaker answered. He stood in front of Perceptor with his arms crossed over his chest.

"A match? Sunstreaker, you know very well I don't fight."

"I also know very well that you want to." Perceptor shook his head and went to turn back to his work. Sunstreaker put a hand on the table and leaned in closer, invading Perceptor's personal space in a big way. "Don't deny it. I can see the evidence of your programming better than anyone. Sideswipe is too much of an aft or he'd see it to. We've got the same thing. So I know what'll happen if you don't get to slag something soon."

"I don't want to fight you, Sunstreaker," Perceptor ground out.

"If you change your mind…"

--

A few more weeks went past. Sunstreaker didn't go to the scientist's wing any more than he had to. Perceptor's programming was starting to hurt. Controlling it wasn't coming any easier. He was beginning to think Sunstreaker was right.

And beginning to think that only made him think about Sunstreaker's offer. It would feel so good to finally let loose on something, on someone. Sunstreaker was a big enough, brawny enough model to take anything the out of practice scientist could dish out, so he wouldn't have to worry about damaging Sunstreaker too much. Reasoning like that only made the programming strain more against his control.

Finally he couldn't stand it anymore.

Perceptor threw his tools down on his work table and left his lab. He didn't bother tapping any of the security feeds to find Sunstreaker. The frustration of looking would add a nice build up to his programming. He went into the rec room and looked around. He ignored the people who asked if he was all right. He was about to leave when his programming alerted him to a looming presence behind him.

"All right there, Percy?" Sunstreaker asked snidely.

Perceptor lowered his eyes to the ground to keep everyone from seeing the wicked smirk that crossed his face. "Oh, just fine, Sunstreaker. Do you mind helping me with something, please?" He turned quickly and leapt on Sunstreaker.

Sunstreaker grinned. Finally.

--

The fight ended with Sunstreaker sitting on Perceptor's back and shoving his face into the floor. Both mechs were dirty and leaking. "I give," Perceptor managed to say, his voice much lighter than it had been in a long time.

Sunstreaker slid off Perceptor and helped him up into a sitting position. "Feel better?" he asked.

"Much. Thank you."

"You could have picked a better place, you know. You know how much brig time and punishment detail we're going to get for this?" Sunstreaker looked around the destroyed rec room. Tables and chairs had been overturned and most had been broken. There was spilled energon all over the floor, either from the mechs themselves or the cubes others had been drinking. A few mechs were groaning and leaking energon too. They'd tried to stop the fight between the two, not knowing what was going on. That had turned out to be a very big mistake.

"Well, I had intended on taking it to the training room, but, when inspiration strikes…"


	2. Chapter 2

AN: So I'm glad everyone likes this. I really didn't have any intention on making it more than a one-shot, but people wanted to see reactions. I hope this is what ya'll are looking for. I think I'll have at least one more part after this involving the general Autobot populace, not just some of the officers.

I really hope I'm getting Perceptor right. I've been a bit antsy about writing him, because I want to make him sound smart, but I can be quite an ignorant little twit. I guess this is good practice for Perceptor being in 'Untitled'.

So here's the second part of It's in the Programming.

Disclaimer: I don't own, much to my dismay.

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Optimus and Prowl both waited while Ratchet finished fixing up Sunstreaker and Perceptor. Ratchet himself was ranting loudly at the two, but neither seemed to be paying him much mind. After a swift arc welder to the head for the both of them, Ratchet pronounced them physically fit.

Prowl shifted forward. "I have to say, I wasn't expecting anything like this from you, Perceptor," he said. He hesitated as Perceptor's optics narrowed.

"It's precisely because of that this happened," Perceptor snapped.

Sunstreaker looked sideways at Perceptor. "Don't make me have you to hit you again." Perceptor looked back at him with a small smirk.

"Oh, no! No fighting in my med bay!" Ratchet snarled. "Especially not after I've just fixed you. Now answer us straight. What got all of this started?"

Perceptor cycled air through his intakes, letting out a sigh. "Sunstreaker was helping me, actually."

"By beating the slag out of you?"

"I got in some good hits of my own, thank you!" Perceptor defended himself. "I'm severely out of practice!"

"Out of practice?" Prowl questioned.

"Yes. I was actually given a prototype warrior program, the same the twins themselves have. If I go too long without some kind of fight, it causes system malfunctions. I've managed to keep it mostly at bay with verbal sparring, but since coming to Earth, there aren't that many mechs here that are a challenge."

"What kind of system malfunctions are we talking about?" Ratchet asked. He was frowning in a thoughtful way.

"It starts as a general paranoia about the mechs around you and being rather short tempered. It can lead to phantom signals in your systems. Eventually, the programming will take over and you'll have to fight someone without restraint."

"That's why Sides and I fight each other when there's not 'Cons to slag," Sunstreaker added with a shrug.

"Why didn't you tell us about this, Perceptor?" Optimus asked.

"Because back on Cyberton, it didn't matter whether I wanted to fight or not. It was fight or die. Once I joined the Ark crew, there were enough scientists around to argue with, and I've managed to make my programming accept that as a means of fighting. So being kept off the battlefield was a nice, welcome reprieve. When we had to leave on the energon mission, many of the bots I normally associated with were left behind. And everyone else has been busy with their own work since we arrived. I've been busy as well."

"So you've been letting your programming fritz because you were busy?" Ratchet asked, his voice lowering dangerously. Perceptor nodded slowly.

"Hey, well, now that we know, he can fight with me and Sides."

"I appreciate that, Sunstreaker," Perceptor started. "but-"

"I think that's a good idea," Optimus spoke up.

"Sir?" Prowl asked, surprised.

"You said you were out of practice, Perceptor. I'd like for you to get back into practice. If you still want to stay off the battlefield after that, I have no problem with it. But it will help you, yes?"

Perceptor nodded again. "It will, very much."

"In the meantime, however, I believe you have punishment detail." Optimus smiled behind his facemask. "I'll leave that to Prowl."

Prowl pulled a datapad from his subspace. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you two caused with that fight?" he asked calmly.

Sunstreaker groaned. "Oh, we're really in for it now." Both mechs listened at Prowl listed off exactly what they had managed to break, including their fellow Autobots. He assigned them a gargantuan amount of punishment detail. After Prowl left, Sunstreaker turned to Perceptor."See, Percy, if you had just accepted my challenge when I asked, we wouldn't be having this problem."

Perceptor didn't respond, but kept his focus on Ratchet. Ratchet was absently fiddling with some of the tools in his arm, looking deep in thought. "Credit for your thoughts, Ratchet?" he asked.

Ratchet looked up. "All these years putting you three back together and I never noticed any errant programming like that."

"Cuz it ain't errant," Sunstreaker answered.

Perceptor nodded agreement. "Our programming was designed this way. Many new models brought out of the factories after the war began were programmed with something like it."

"Forcing bots to fight…" Ratchet trailed off.

"Yes, it's a rather Decepticon way of thinking. But in the beginning, no one expected the war to last long, and even though there were soldiers, none were very well experienced. Many mechs that were made with this programming were killed rather quickly, picking fights were they didn't need to and being out numbered and out classed."

"Me 'n Sides probably would've been at some point, but the two of us don't lay down and die that easy. If Ironhide hadn't found us back then, we might've still ended up like that."

"What about you, Perceptor? You are always verbally against fighting." Ratchet asked.

"It's not unheard of for mechs to go against their core programming. It's simply very rare. Many mechs that do will end up driving themselves mad. The humans say there is a fine line between genius and insanity. I think I walk that line rather well."


End file.
